Jane Campion directs Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Anna Paquin in this New Zealand based period erotic drama about a mute mail order bride who enters a sexual relationship with her neighbour to retain her beloved piano.

What does The Piano represent? Not her voice but romantic love in my opinion. She sacrifices the hope of such a love to ensure a happier future and there are hidden clues to its import written on the keys. Was I too young to appreciate all this at 14 years old? Of course I fucking was. Now I love all the inevitable tragedy, fairy tale myth and muddy toxic masculinity. It isn’t a particularly subtle piece of storytelling and I’d say it is the actors who manage to stop it from being entirely heavy handed. There is an unconventional heat between Hunter and Keitel that I doubt many could have predicted and it stands the test of time surprisingly well. Campion’s best.

8

Perfect Double Bill: An Angel At My Table (1990)

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